China Shares May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 75 points or 2.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,290-point plateau and it's looking at a soft start again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with oil and technology stocks likely to lead the way lower. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished barely lower on Tuesday as losses from the properties were offset by gains from the oil companies and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index eased 0.09 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 3,290.95 after trading between 3,279.57 and 3,305.34. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 7.75 points or 0.37 percent to end at 2,061.76.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.21 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.51 percent, China Construction Bank perked 0.16 percent, China Merchants Bank retreated 1.60 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.34 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.05 percent, Jiangxi Copper climbed 1.05 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) shed 0.63 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.45 percent, PetroChina rallied 2.02 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) strengthened 1.13 percent, Huaneng Power surged 4.07 percent, China Shenhua Energy was up 0.21 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.67 percent, Poly Developments dipped 0.14 percent, China Vanke slumped 1.05 percent and China Fortune Land tanked 2.21 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and finished the same way.

The Dow advanced 71.15 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 35,630.68, while the NASDAQ sank 62.11 points or 0.43 percent to close at 14,283.91 and the S&P 500 fell 12.23 points or 0.27 percent to end at 4,576.73.

The modest weakness on Wall Street may partly have reflected profit taking, as some traders looked to cash in on the strong gains posted last month.

Overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders continued to look ahead to Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the ninth consecutive month in July. Also, the Commerce Department said construction spending rose slightly less than expected in June.

Crude oil futures ended lower on Tuesday thanks to a firm dollar and data showing a slowdown in global manufacturing activity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.43 at $81.37 a barrel.